He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent the first two years of his government mocking the Congress's focus on "farmers, MNREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme), rural development and social spending" -- suggesting the irony that the government is now billing the budget as "pro-farmer".

"Now mere rhetoric, without vision or action, will fool neither farmers nor the poor of this country," Gandhi said in another tweet.

He, however, thanked Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for accepting his recommendation on removing import duty on braille paper to help the visually impaired.